Work,Work,Work...and then shows

Hey guys! just wanted to update everyone on what I've been up to...

WORK! thats about it...lol...I work at a coffee shop here in tyler,TX and it has been pretty good, just long hours and I've been barely keeping up on sleep between work and the band! Just another random thought, but is anyone as upset as i am about Harry Potter being moved to July '09... it's sad!

well, if you get a chance read Isaiah 53...I've been reading it every day..it rocks my world, especially in "the message" translation...

Isaiah 53
1Who believes what we’ve heard and seen?
Who would have thought God’s saving power would look like this?
2The servant grew up before God—a scrawny seedling,
a scrubby plant in a parched field.
There was nothing attractive about him,
nothing to cause us to take a second look.
3He was looked down on and passed over,
a man who suffered, who knew pain firsthand.
One look at him and people turned away.
We looked down on him, thought he was scum.
4But the fact is, it was our pains he carried—
our disfigurements, all the things wrong with us.
We thought he brought it on himself,
that God was punishing him for his own failures.
5But it was our sins that did that to him,
that ripped and tore and crushed him—our sins!
He took the punishment, and that made us whole.
Through his bruises we get healed.

JAKE GERMANY!

Hey guys! this is sort of a random post...but I just got done recording with my good bud Jake Germany and he will be releasing a New song on his myspace this coming Monday, August 25th....you should definately go check it out...he will have it up for a free download...you won't be sorry!

www.myspace.com/jakegermanymusic

Please read...

I honestly do not really know how to approach this post...

I guess my main wish is to encourage people as well as show everyone how much God loves and cares for each of us.... I hope this story blesses you

Sunday evening, I arrived in the parking lot at church... only to get a random/confusing phone call from a few of my friends telling me that they are picking me up, "Don't ask questions, you are coming with us!" So, they show up and I hop in their car. As we pull away from church, they reveal their plan to randomly leave dinner and water for people at the greyhound station on a very shady side of town....

I could probably say that when we arrived we weren't planning on being at the station any longer than 5 to 10 minutes..... we set down the food and poured many glasses of water and set them on the benches where they were visible... as we started to turn to leave, a man bursts out the doors of the bus station to greet us.... Here's a little bit of his story

 Dwayne...

...A Dirty, smelly, black man...He was old, tired, missing teeth. He arrived at the bus station about 5:30, as he does every day after he gets off work. Here was a man who grew up with 8 brothers and sisters in a christian home with loving parents. At the age of 16, he became a father... later in his life, Dwayne entered a relationship and married a woman that sent his life in to terrible downward spiral.... he started joining her at night clubs and just having a casual drink. What started, for him, as just plain entertainment, turned into a heavy, abusive drinking problem. He didn't care about the consequences, He didn't care about God. As time went on, His relationship with his wife had hit the rocks, He fell into deep depression. The pain was overbearing. Alcohol couldn't cut it anymore to ease the pain....So, he turned to Cocaine and heavy drugs.... He got to a point to where he felt completely alone and that God didn't care... that no one cared....So, one night, around 1 am, he decided to take his life with two straight bullets to the chest. He was found and rushed to the hospital. There, his entire family sat and waited, preparing themselves for the worst. Five doctors all entered the waiting room to inform the family that he would not make it through the night and there was nothing they could do. Feeling burdened, An older lady named Leigh spoke up and asked to see him alone in his room. Mama Leigh (that's what Dwayne called her) watched him grow up and was a strong woman of God in his church... Someone who he could always lean on. She entered the room that night and as everyone else left she began to pray, asking God for healing in his body. Mama Leigh prayed and prayed for a miracle. Initially, when the doctors took the x-ray, the bullets appeared too close to the heart to perform surgery. As she left the room, Leigh asked the doctors if it was possible to take another x-ray. With strong doubt, the doctors complied with her request. When the results came in, the doctors were stunned. The bullets had completely moved position and were now accessible to be removed.... The doctors performed the surgery and Dwayne made a full recovery.... Unfortunately, as life kept on going, Dwayne, still in deep depression, became more and more dependent on drugs. Until one night... he had bought his usual $150 dollars worth of cocaine and walked to his usual spot near the railroad tracks and alone from the world... As he began to set up his crack pipe and bring it to his lips, Something overcame his whole body. He was broken. He was desperate... Dropping his pipe, He fell to his face crying to God. He was completely surrendered to the One who created him. At those railroad tracks, Dwayne weeped and prayed for hours. He eventually stood up. Twisting his feet, Dwayne crushed what cocaine he had into the rocks. That night Dwayne surrendered his entire life to Jesus..... 18 years later he is still clean... He thanks God for pulling him through  everything in his life. Sex. Alcohol. Drugs. Suicide, For showing continual love and mercy to him, when he should've been dead.

So.... Here is a man, who shows up to the bus stop every day at 5:30 after work. Not to go anywhere.....but... to just sit and wait. He is waiting on anyone...anyone that is willing to listen to his story. He wants to serve others and show them the same love Christ has shown him through the years. He said one thing that struck me hard right before we left.....

"I don't have all this fancy clothes and stuff and a nice car... but I have everything I would ever need....I have Jesus." -Dwayne